In contemporary theorizing, there is a controversy about the role of spatial location in the selection of visual information; some theories postulate that position plays a unique role, whereas other theories hold that position is just one selection dimension that is not different from other dimensions, such as color and shape. In this context, a paradigm introduced by Tsal and Lavie (1988) promised to be of fundamental importance. With that paradigm, Tsal and Lavie found that, after reporting a first letter of a prespecified color, subjects preferred to switch their reporting to letters from array positions adjacent to that letter over continuing to report letters of the same color as that of the first letter. This switch from color to position provided firm evidence in favor of the "position-special" views as opposed to the "all-attributes-are-equal" views. In the present study, six experiments, employing Tsal and Lavie's paradigm and variations of that paradigm, are reported. Experiments 1, 2, 4, and 5 show that evidence for a switch from selection on the basis of color to selection on the basis of position is not obtained when subjects are forced to fixate the fixation point and possibly also not under normal contrast conditions without fixation controls. Experiment 3 shows that switching from color to position is difficult. Experiments 2, 5, and 6 show that evidence for a switch is obtained only under low-contrast conditions when subjects are not forced to fixate the fixation point. It is concluded that the Tsal and Lavieparadigm is an asymmetric paradigm. The results reported by Tsal and Lavie constituted a major threat for the "all-attributes-are-equal" theories and provided firm support for the "position-special" theories. The results reported in the present study are compatible with the all-attributes-are-equal theories, but, at the same time, do not constitute a major threat for the contemporary position-special theories.In 1988, Tsal and Lavie could still write (p. 15) that the role ofstimulus location in the selective processing of visual information had evolved into an implicit controversy; some researchers believed that spatial location played a unique role in the selection of information, whereas others claimed that it was just one selection dimension that was not different in principle from other stimulus dimensions, such as color or shape. Now, less than 10 years later, this implicit controversy has evolved into an explicit controversy (see, e.g., van der Heijden, 1993, for an overview). A brieflook at current theorizing can make this clear. There are two groups of theories: the "position-not-special" ones and the "position-special" ones. Position Not SpecialIn Broadbent's (1958) filter theory for auditory information processing, no special role was ascribed to position. The filter selected auditory information defined by any given physical attribute. ("Physical features identified as able to act as a basis for this selection included the intensity, pitch, and spatial localization of sounds"; Br...

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